Still in My Frozen Heart
by Lili Swan
Summary: After Hans' true intentions are revealed, Anna has to cope with the crushing truth. She has to decide, does she give into the ice in her heart? Or does she fight back?


Anna was so cold.

She couldn't feel her toes anymore and she felt as if an icy wind was continually striking her face. Her nose and ears felt as though they were about to fall off.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to block it out; but the dark only made it worse. "It's not real. It can't be."

She opened her eyes, but there it was. She gazed up through her tears at the door that had, once again, been closed on her.

"No."

She began to cry in earnest now, "No. No, no," He had promised. He had promised he would never shut her out. He promised.

Hans.

Tears of anguish turned to tears of hate as Anna slammed her fist into the ground. The lying dirt bag. How could he?

_Well, it was you who believed him in the first place,_ said a little voice in the back of her head.

Anna gasped as she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She remembered what the trolls had said; that there was ice in her heart. It hadn't really bothered her too badly. It had mostly made her feel dizzy and disoriented. Not to mention nauseous.

But now, now it **hurt**. She could feel the pressure in her chest and the ice slowly worming its way into the cracks in her heart. It was making it a little hard to breathe.

_See Hans, you jerk? See what you've done to my poor heart? I hope you're happy, _she thought bitterly.

_He never really cared about you anyway,_ said the little voice.

But she had cared about him. Darn it, she still cared. As she punched the floor again, a tear escaped and froze on her cheek. She still loved him. She loved Hans.

She had been so stupid. How could she think anyone cared about her that much? Her whole life, she had never had anyone love her like Hans claimed he had.

Hans, catching her. Twice.

Hans, twirling her around the ballroom.

Hans, sneaking up behind her and sweeping her off her feet.

Hans, on one knee, asking her to marry him.

Hans, telling her he'd never shut her out.

Hans, breaking her heart.

Anna let out another sob as her heart gave another throb of pain.

"Help," she whimpered, in the hope that someone would hear her. _Save me from the pain of it all._

It was so cold, inside and out of her body. Her breath could barely be seen because her insides were so frozen. She was going to die. She was going to die here, alone and dark. There was no one who loved her enough to save her. She would die here alone, of a broken heart.

As another wave of pain overcame her, Anna gave a little scream and blacked out.

She awoke to the sound of something scraping in the keyhole.

Anna fought the dizziness as she tried to think straight. It was Hans! It had to be. She knew it couldn't have been true. He had come back for her.

"Help," she breathed.

The lock clicked. The door swung open. She stared up in disbelief. Was that a carrot?

She heard a familiar giggle and her heart sank. Olaf. Not Hans. Reality came flooding painfully back in.

She heard Olaf exclaim, "Anna! Oh, no." He bustled about, relighting the fire, but Anna did not care. Hans was still gone. He had still used her. Her heart was still broken. It wasn't a nightmare, and she couldn't wake up.

She blinked past tears and saw Olaf getting dangerously close to the newly lit fire.

"Olaf? Olaf, get away from there," she commanded.

Olaf was transfixed. "Whoa. So this is heat." He reached out his hand. "I love it."

Then his hand burst into flames.

"Ooh! But don't touch it!"

He flapped it about and then rushed over and helped Anna move towards the fire. The heat did feel nice, but all she could think of was Hans putting out the flame. She remembered the hiss and the cold look on his face. Her heart gave a dull throb.

"So where's Hans?" said Olaf, who looked confused, "What happened to you kiss?"

_Good question._

Anna felt as though the words cost her everything. "I was wrong about him." She gulped as tears sprung to her eyes. "It wasn't true love."

But if it wasn't true love, why did she still feel this way? She had loved Hans. She still did. Not this new person he had become.

_Always was, _piped the annoying little voice again.

Anna loved who she thought Hans was. The Hans who had loved her. Maybe true love could only happen when two people loved each other equally.

She didn't know.

"Huh. But we ran all the way here." Olaf sounded confused.

She didn't really care anymore. She had accepted her fate. But she wasn't taking Olaf down with her.

"Please Olaf, you can't stay here; you'll melt."

Olaf looked at her, and his innocent features turned suddenly stubborn.

"I am not leaving here until we find some other act of true love to save you."

He sat down, back to back with her. There was a moment of silence. Then, "Do you have any ideas?"

She hadn't a single idea. There was no one out there who loved her. Elsa certainly didn't, and Hans-

No, Hans had made himself perfectly clear.

Besides, what was true love anyway? If it wasn't what she felt with Hans, then what was?

"I don't even know what love is."

Anna began to cry softly. Olaf stood up and placed his little hand on her shoulder, trying to console her.

"That's okay, I do."

She looked at him, puzzled.

"Love is," he looked thoughtful, "putting someone else's needs before your, like, you know, how Kristoff brought you back here to Hans and left you forever."

She let this sink in. Something did not really click. _Kristoff?_

"Kristoff loves me?" she asked tentatively.

Olaf looked surprised. "Wow, you really don't know anything about love, do you?"

Anna noticed that his features had begun to slide slowly off his face. "Olaf, you're melting!" she exclaimed.

He looked at her with soft eyes. "Some people are worth melting for."

But he quickly grabbed his face and pushed it back into place, looking slightly panicked.

"Just maybe not this second!"

Anna felt a strange something. It was a slight warmth in her chest. Not enough to melt the ice, but none the less, warmth. She gave a little laugh at the silly snowman. He smiled back.

Suddenly an icy blast blew through the window, making the fire flicker and Anna shiver again. "Don't worry, I've got it!" Olaf called as he rushed to close the window.

She pondered what he had said a few moments ago. _Kristoff loves me?_ Sure, she liked Kristoff, and he was cute in a polar bear sort of way, but she didn't love him. No, her stubborn heart still belonged to Hans. And probably a part of it always would. But maybe Kristoff's love for her would be enough to thaw her heart. Maybe-

Olaf was saying something. She broke out of her deep thoughts and saw him jumping up and down at the window. "It's Kristoff and Sven! They're coming back this way!"

She was shocked. "They- they are?"

Olaf turned back to the window, icicle telescope in hand. "Wow, he's really moving fast. Huh. I guess I was wrong. I guess Kristoff doesn't love you enough to leave you forever."

Anna's mind was racing. Kristoff loved her. But would his love be enough if she didn't love him? She didn't know what she felt towards him anyway. Her heart was still too full of Hans to even consider loving someone else. But maybe, just maybe, what she had was enough. She had to try anyway.

She tried to get to her feet. "Help me up, Olaf. **Please**."

Olaf rushed back to her side, knocking things over in the process. "No, no, no, no, no. You need to stay by the fire and keep warm." He tried to pull her back down.

Anna was persistent. "I need to get to Kristoff."

"Why?" Olaf looked puzzled. She looked at him, and slowly realization lit up his face. "Oh, oh, oh, I know why!"

He hopped around; such a happy snowman.

"There's your act of true love, right there, riding across the fjords like a valiant, pungent reindeer king!"

She did not have the heart to tell Olaf she did not really love Kristoff. Not yet. Maybe with time- maybe if it worked- she would learn to forget Hans. It wouldn't be easy; it'd be the hardest thing she'd ever do. She'd have to take it step by step, day by day. She'd pick up the pieces of her shattered heart and put them back in place. And maybe she'd leave a little section alone. A reminder of what she had felt, and the life she could've had. But maybe someday she could love Kristoff. Someday the storm could end and the sun would shine. Maybe someday she'd be happy.

Olaf took her hand and smiled at her, as though he could read her mind.

"C'mon!" he beckoned.

And together, girl and snowman fled the room, escaped the memories and never looked back.


End file.
